BOJ's Assets Top ¥500 Trillion for First Time (News)

The Bank of Japan announced on June 2 that its total assets, such as its holdings of Japanese government bonds, stocks and other securities, has topped ¥500 trillion for the first time ever.

The balance has ballooned to a level close to the country's annual gross domestic product as the bank continues to buy JGBs vigorously under its monetary policy.

The BOJ's assets look certain to surpass GDP in the future, as the bank plans to keep purchasing JGBs in order to realize its 2% inflation target.

The total assets stood at ¥500.8 trillion as of Wednesday, more than triple the ¥164,8 trillion figure at the end of March 2013, just before the BOJ began the massive JGB purchases under Governor Kuroda Haruhiko, according to a BOJ accounts report.

Over the same period, the proportion of the BOJ's assets to the country's GDP climbed from slightly over 30% to clear the 90% mark. In Europe and the United States, the proportion is below 40% for most central banks.